


Snippets or Getting to Know You

by Fatal_Fallacy



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drug Use, Gale is not ok, Gen, I mean Hancock is here so thats a given, It gets cleared up quickly though, Not Posted in Order, Self-Insert, Sort Of, There is death, They're op as hell, This is a getting to know a character after trips through multiple worlds and a heap of abilities, This is also a getting to know a character through the eyes of their companions sort of fic, and body horror, and mentions of characters from other fandoms, but they are trying their best, chapters not posted in order, like skyrim, may see familiar mechanics from other games, mild misgendering, my first posted fic, non-linear, nonbinary OC, those chapters will be tagged accordingly if I ever post them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-28 05:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20960918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fatal_Fallacy/pseuds/Fatal_Fallacy
Summary: After years of being tossed between worlds like so much flotsam, Gale is happy to end up in a world they're actually familiar with, even if it's through video games and not experience.The Commonwealth won't know what hit them.Pairings may develop over time.





	1. Like an Animal or Once Human

**Author's Note:**

> Body Horror (Mild)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippet 1

Gale was always teeth and claws when they were angry, and like many things in the wasteland, this was quite literal. John realized he should have suspected as much when he watched them stroll into town and gut Finn as soon as he started on his protection racket crap.  
Granted, he was going to do the same but to see them pounce on the opportunity so fast was a sight to behold- their eyes narrowed to slits and teeth bared like some sort of animal. He’d seen their type before, he thought. Greeted them and thought nothing of it, noting their jaunty two-finger salute goodbye as they slipped away to chat with Daisy about something unimportant.

He figured they’d disappear into the haze of chems that permeated his waking hours and continued on with his day. Just another drifter he’d never see again.

He wasn’t a witness the next time their ferocity was on display- he received the news secondhand after the Bobbi no-Nose fiasco. To hear Fahrenheit tell it, after the dust cleared and Fahrenheit offered her ultimatum, Gale had climbed out of their power armor and turned on Bobbi, a wordless snarl on their face as they sprung upon her like some furious beast, unleashing a sound like an enraged feral.

Bobbi didn’t know what hit her.

After, when they walked all the way back to Goodneighbor and apologized for the event there were still flecks of blood on their face.

Then it reappeared again when rescuing Nick- creeping through the subway system to vault 114, their eyes had the same strange luminescence of a mutant hound’s. He had written it off at first, but upon seeing it again and again later that night he concluded it was not a chem hallucination. John knew Nick’s eyes glowed, and simply assumed Gale was some sort of prototype synth or institute experiment with rogue programming. Worth keeping an eye on, but not over scrutinizing- he knew what the railroad was up to in the Memory Den, Gale was probably one of theirs he had concluded, especially with how suddenly they had appeared.  
Gale had torn through the Triggermen in that subway station like so much raw meat, their knife flicking back and forth an extension of their arm. He had previously wondered why they didn’t use a gun. This was when it became obvious they didn’t need one.

And here, watching the bizarre amalgamation of horrors they transformed into tear through a base full of gunners, mouths open in a chorus of snarls, inky limbs crunching the wrecked cars around them their animalistic nature truly came to light. He stayed sheltered around a corner and peered around the stack of cars to watch their back, careful to stay out of the way of the two-story creature’s furious jaws.

Yeah. Teeth and claws. And wings. And eyes. Like something out of a bad trip or one of those pre-war horror novels Nick said his fiancée used to read. John had never seen the appeal in those sorts of books- there was plenty of horror in his world already. But for a moment he almost wished he had bothered to read some.  
If he had, maybe he would have seen this coming and known what to do.

Nick said that all of the monsters in Jenny’s books were evil.

But as he watched the creature melt away and Gale return, he knew the books were wrong. Gale may have been bloodthirsty and violent, but they pointed it all in the right direction, all the people who needed hurting in the commonwealth- those who sought to make other’s lives harder.

Hancock could live with that.  
So when Gale called out to him, he strolled around the corner and gave his hunched-over friend a once over.  
“That was quite a show, hardly left any for me” he paused “you feelin’ alright brother?”  
Gale smiled and shook their head, eyes crinkling at the corners “I’m just fine Hancock, just catching my breath” they said as they plopped down to sit and flicked through the notes on their pip-boy.  
“After this, we can head back to base. These Gunners won’t be bothering my settlers anymore.” They licked their teeth and shook their head “by the by... any berry mentats in that pack of yours? Need to wash the taste of wasteland out of my mouth.”  
He tossed them the chems after a moment’s search “Got you covered brother.” Gale had given him an appreciative look, popped a couple of the pills in their mouth, and stood up.  
“Let’s get going before the corpses attract any critters. I don’t feel like bringing home any strays today.” They said as they shouldered their pack and tightened its straps.  
He clutched his chest as if wounded “What? You’re not taking me with you?”  
It had gotten the reaction he had wanted- Gale looked at him and chuckled, threw an arm around him and said matter of factly “I’ll drag you with me for as long as you’ll tolerate my shenanigans and you know it. Let’s go” and with that, they set their sights on the nearest settlement and began the long trek back towards a warm bed and food for the night.


	2. Outsiders or My Kind of Freakshow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippet 2: Bonding and Backstory

Gale was grinning about something, and given that there were no enemies around, this was a cause for concern.  
Nick turned to John and then to them, a small smile alighting on his weathered features.  
“Care to share with the class?” he asked, glancing over their shoulder as if to ensure that there was no destruction behind them that he had somehow missed.   
Gale shook their head and smiled. “Just thinkin’ of something Hancock said”  
“Yeah? What do I have to do with this”  
“‘This is my kinda freakshow,’ yeah?” Gale shrugged and seemed lost in thought for a moment, before continuing into some sort of explanation. “Okay, so, before I came here, I was a member of the group called the Outsiders.”  
The trio stopped walking then, as Gale continued to talk. “We didn’t exactly pick that name- they had a name for people like us and that's what we were called. Anyways- there were five of us in the core group right? And we could be best described as a bunch of oddball siblings dropped into a shitty situation.”  
They paused and fiddled with one of their many necklaces, an arrowhead made of black glass. “We came from a pre-war world. Before the bombs. Sort of. And then we were dropped headfirst into another world, post bombs but so completely unlike this one.” They turned and unholstered the strange spear that was slung over their back. “‘S where I got this puppy, and where I learned to do my um … monster thing.”  
They gestured with their head and their slitted, amber eyes glinted in the mid-afternoon sunlight, still too shy to talk about magic in a world mostly without.  
Hancock broke the silence with a hum.  
“Didn’t know that was a learned skill. Knew you do it on purpose, just didn’t figure it was something taught”  
Gale paused, considering for a moment. “It was not. Parts of it were, but I figured out the rest myself.”  
“You cobbled it together then?” Nick said, commenting for the first time.  
“Yeah” they replied “I did”  
“The whole thing’s a combination of multiple...” their face scrunched up for a moment in consideration “processes that I learned while I was in that world. We were in a desperate situation and I needed to get stronger quick, so I threw it together as fast as I could” they chuckled a moment before continuing “first time I did it I didn’t know if I would change back. Thought I might be stuck an abomination forever”  
“So you’re saying”  
“Yeah. I honestly wouldn’t have minded, believe it or not- I honestly sometimes have issues with being human-shaped so taking that form ain’t a struggle. But as y’all have seen, parts of it linger sometimes.” They gestured to their eyes and nails. “Really, if I go long enough without using it and work real hard at it they actually go back to normal. My eyes were hazel, once upon a time.” they added conversationally, like such changes were normal and reversible for others.  
“But anyways. The Outsiders were my people, yeah? I could always count on them to have my back in a fight.”  
Gale fidgeted with the arrowhead again. “Hieronymus- Hero- he’s been with me for most of my world-hopping shenanigans. Y’all’d like him, he’s pretty cool. But I can’t find him. We always find a way to get back to each other, but not this time I guess.” They shook their head as of to clear a thought away. “Anyways, before I got all distracted I was trying to say is y’all feel like my people, ya know? You, Nick, even Cait..”  
“We’re your kind of misfits, yeah?” Hancock rasped, throwing an arm over their shoulders.  
Gale shrugged him off scoffing. “C’mon man lay off. Med-X ‘s making me sentimental is all”  
Nick smiled and shook his head at the two friends “Whatever you say Gale”  
At that Gale shot him a look “Not helping Nick”  
They sighed and brushed some non-existent dirt off of their clothes. “Anyways, let’s get going. We need to get back to the Castle before sundown or they’re gonna close the gates on us and we’ll be sleeping in a guard shack until morning.” Their tone brokered no argument and the trio set off for the fort, a secure place to relax and sleep close at hand.


	3. Somethin’ like a Feral or Not a Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mild Misgendering in this chapter, but it gets cleared up quickly.  
Nick's first impression of Gale isn't exactly stellar but isn't exactly bad either.

Nick had seen a lot in his time since waking up in a garbage pile. Monsters of the modern world, far beyond what Jenny’s books had ever dreamt. Had seen and helped more types of people than he ever thought existed before the bombs dropped.

What he saw when he was rescued from Vault 114 was definitely something he’d never see again.  
The whole event started with a bit of commotion outside the office he was locked in. Gunfire, shotgun blasts, and then screams and snarling.  
When that door finally opened, he half expected a pack of feral ghouls or perhaps hounds judging by the noise.  
He was actually half right.  
What entered the office was a ghoul, a dog, and a shaking person covered in blood.  
His words escaped him before he could help himself “Are you all right?” he asked the hunched-over figure, who had started to sag against a nearby wall.

The ghoul, who he now recognized as mayor Hancock replied for them. “Gale’s just coming down after the fight. New to this whole wasteland survival thing.”  
“Oh fuck you Hancock...” the figure called Gale replied “I’ll be okay in a second... just need to catch my breath... psycho ‘s a hell of a drug,” they said, voice slightly shaky as they appeared to collect themself.  
Turning to face Nick, they cleared their throat and continued “Your assistant sent me to rescue you. Let’s get going before the rest of these triggermen figure out we’ve busted you out.”  
Nick had stopped dead at that moment, a note of near skepticism making it into his modulated voice. “Ellie sent you?” He had been shocked at the time- how had Ellie roped the mayor of Goodneighbor and someone who was obviously a vault dweller into this rescue mission.  
Gale stopped walking and sighed “Yeah, she did. Don’t let the chems fool ya, I am a competent fighter and put myself in a real tight spot to get you out of here. We don’t have long before reinforcements arrive- it’s time to skedaddle.” Their shakes had subsided and they stood tall as they began to walk away.  
What else was he supposed to do? He followed behind Gale and Hancock and the dog brought up the rear behind him.

It wasn’t long before they all ran into Skinny and his broad Darla, who was still wielding that thrice-damned baseball bat.  
After Skinny had said his bit Gale completely ignored him and elected to talk directly to Darla instead.  
“Darla, sweetheart, you’re a hell of a catch and could get far better than an old, washed-up mobster like him. He’s all talk and you know it. How about instead of beating us with that bat, you and I get out of here and tear up the town elsewhere?”  
Darla was momentarily taken aback but had replied with a “Wow.. you’re a bad girl, ain’t ya” and with that obvious success Gale took on some bravado- they had cocked their hip, winked at Darla and said “I’m a real whirlwind. Let’s go chica.”  
Darla had a couple parting words for Skinny that steamed him up good, but he still gave them all ten seconds to book it. So the four of them did, tearing their way out of that subway station like staying would have killed them. Granted, Nick admitted, had they all worked together they probably could have won, but he appreciated Gale not tearing Skinny apart like they apparently had the rest of his goons. He had briefly wondered why, especially given how bloodthirsty they appeared and the company they kept, but elected not to look a gift horse in the mouth and didn’t comment.

Later, when they had all gotten a safe distance away from that vault, Gale had turned to him in question. “Looks like you’re thinking about something real hard there gumshoe. Care to share with the class?”  
Nick was surprised with their forwardness, surprised about everything they had done up to this point but forged on anyways.  
“If you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t really look like a typical woman.” He had asked, finally taking the time to look over his more mysterious rescuer in detail. They had broad shoulders but wide hips, long hair but no obvious chest to speak of, and a rather ambiguous face under the flaking blood and wasteland grime.  
Gale had looked back at him and shook their head. “That’s because I’m not a woman. Not a man either, before you ask. I’m just Gale.”  
Nick had nodded then. He’d met a few wastelanders like that. “Just Gale then. How do you refer to a Gale?” He said, the remark matching their earlier sarcasm, and was rewarded for the effort with a small smile.  
“Any way the wind blows. I actually go by they/them pronouns.” they said with the air of someone used to repeating the statement. “I must warn you, if I have to argue their usage, I will start arguing that these words were being used in singular form in plenty of classic literature- and nobody wants to deal with me on a literature tangent.” they said, continuing with the air of repetition.  
“Referencing Classic literature? Now that’s something you don’t hear often round these parts. You a vaultie or something?” Nick was a detective through and through and would not let it be said that he didn’t pursue a mystery. Gale shook their head and smiled once more at the question.  
“Naw, remember what Hancock said? I’m just new to this wasteland survival thing.” While that answer was less than ideally informative, Nick took what he could get at the time without losing his rescuer’s goodwill, figuring there would likely be another opportunity to find out the information later.  
“Anyways,” Gale said “Let’s get you back to Diamond City. I’m sure Ellie is worried sick.”  
They had ended up catching up to Darla and escorting the girl home, no town tearing in sight. Later he heard that the two had gotten dinner, but that was the end of it as far as Piper had told him over lunch the next day. Little had he known that Gale was soon to become a far bigger part of his second life in the Commonwealth than a one time rescuer and mystery to solve.  
Eventually, they would be counted among his dear friends as well.


	4. On Monsters and Becoming or Humor and Bared Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mild Body Horror, description of a transformation sequence  
Hancock's thoughts on Gale's monstrous side.

While whatever creature Gale turned into was less frightening than a death claw (accounting for Gale’s friendliness), the behemoth they became made a great deal less anatomical sense, appearing, to John’s eyes, like a hallucination he could have cooked up on a very, very bad trip. They usually started looking like some sort of cross between a radscorpion and what Nick said looked like a crocodile, that then sprouted an extra bird head and wings. Then the creature would grow in size and then begin to twist and warp. Finally, they would start sprouting inky claws, extra arms that would lengthen and sprout shaggy fur, another wing, large triangular ears, and then more eyes would appear on the creature in places that eyes had no right to be. The being was stunningly ugly in composition and made John want to look away in order to preserve what sanity he had left. Gale said they liked it, calling the form “an affront to all sense and good taste” with a smile like an inside joke.

(He wondered why they felt the need to joke about it. )

Sometimes, he wondered what becoming something like that felt like.

Given the squelching and crunching sounds he heard when they transformed, he decided not to ask.


	5. Death in the Wasteland or It Only Hurts a Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a short firefight in a warehouse near Hardware Town, Nick and Hancock settle in for a stern talk with Gale.  
Content warning, there is a frank discussion of death and suicidal tactics in this chapter.

“So it has no side effects?” Nick said, with a strong note of skepticism in his modulated voice “You just get back up and that’s that? Call me crazy but I don’t believe dyin’ repeatedly doesn’t have an effect on you eventually”.  
Gale peeled themself off the tacky warehouse floor and looked down at their ruined armor. “No, it does have side effects when used to excess.” They began to strip off their leg armor before shucking off their leather jacket and blood-soaked shirt underneath it, dropping the clothing to the ground with a wet smack. “The process is like... turning off a light or something,” they said unconvincingly as they grumbled and wrestled with their binder “mother fuckin’...impossible piece of shit...” and they peeled the soiled garment off before rummaging in their pack for new clothing “gonna be a bitch to wash all that out.” They paused before glancing over at Nick and Hancock, now aware of their concerned looks and sighed. “Alright, I can tell when I can’t avoid a conversation any longer, and I know an intervention when I see one. Be nice if we could do it away from the dead raiders but whatever.” They pulled on a new shirt and grabbed a bandanna to tie up their now sticky hair.  
“It’s not actually so bad,” they started as they walked over to a nearby crate to sit down. “Once you get over the pain it’s... peaceful. Real quiet until the music starts.”  
“Music?” Hancock asked, skepticism clear in his voice. “Brother, that sounds like the chems talking, I don’t buy the music bit.”

Gale nodded and continued “I wasn’t expecting you too. Hearing and knowing the song is part of the process I went through to be able to transform like I do, and isn’t a normal part of the process for most people who can get back up like I can.” They grabbed a snack cake from their bag and began to eat it as they talked. “I asked Hero once if he could hear it when he dies. Apparently it’s just a me thing.”

Nick edged back into the impromptu intervention once again “That’s not what I was asking you. What are the side effects of doing this regularly? You can’t get something from nothing and I’m sure there’s a price to pay for being able to stand back up after keeling over like that.”

Gale huffed and smiled ruefully “You’re way too good at catching when I’m evading a topic. Must mean I’m rusty.” they said, munching on their cake. “There’s a few symptoms that come from overuse of Courier powers, as they are called where they are native. Some develop Cotard’s syndrome and believe they are dead all the time. That’s mostly psychological and treatable. I slowly start to lose my senses with overuse, starting with taste and as it worsens, progressing to touch if I don’t stop using the ability too frequently. As you can see” they said and gestured to their meal “this is not happening right now. Some people experience worsened depression, and some develop an addiction to the process, among other issues.” They finished their cake and brushed the crumbs off on their jeans. “I am suffering none of these symptoms because I am only kickin’ it a couple times a week right now. I used to do this multiple times a day, every day for work, so this ain’t bad.”  
The smiled and a humorous note entered their words “Brain death is surprisingly relaxing. Only real peace I got sometimes while escorting my client everywhere she went.”  
Hancock shook his head “That’s part of what we’re going for here brother- watching you act like that and die is the opposite of peaceful for us. Nicky and I both worry about you- those five minutes of silence where you just lay there dead are terrifying. You may be sure you’re going to get up again, but we aren’t. We want to discuss maybe using this suicidal tactic less, or hell, maybe even not at all.”  
Nick added to Hancock’s impassioned speech stating “I’m sure your luck is gonna run out at some point- and whatever swallows you up when you die like that is gonna stop spittin’ you back out eventually.”

Gale looked positively contrite and slumped on their seat. “I’m-” they paused, sighed, and started again “I’m sorry guys. I didn’t know I was letting myself be out for that long, and can tell I haven’t been fair to you about this or really properly explained what’s going on when I do this, and I’m sorry for that too. Most of the people I’ve run with were either paying me to die, never figured out that I was actually dying, or didn’t even care. I-“ they paused for a moment, wringing their hands “y’all deserve better than that. I clearly underestimated how much you both care about me and how much the dearth of explanation of the process was hurting us as a group and I apologize for that too.” At that they straightened their back and finally made eye contact with them both “Consider me open for questions now- no evasions, no censorship. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Y’all deserve that much for putting up with my bullshit this long.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty rough. I'm in the market for a beta reader if anybody is willing to chat about it.  
Also, AMA about Gale and Courier powers! Courier-verse is the brainchild of yours truly and RustedKnights on Tumblr and very much in development, so asking me questions about how the resurrection stuff works is a big help.


End file.
